On June 6, 2024, Kangana Ranaut, the newly elected Member of Parliament from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi constituency and an acclaimed actress, was en route to the national capital via Chandigarh Airport. During her transit, she was slapped by Kulwinder Kaur, an on-duty CISF constable stationed at the airport.
According to the FIR accessed and published by News18, Ranaut was escorted by four staffers including a CISF inspector, two women police staffers and Vistara airline staff. The FIR says, “It is submitted that on 6 June Miss Kangana Ranaut (Film actress and newly elected MP From Mandi Himachal Pradesh) was travelling from Chandigarh to Delhi by Vistara Flight No UK-707(STD-1545hrs). At about 1526 hrs, she cleared PESC (pre-embarkation security check) formalities duly assisted by CISF SHA Inspector (Surendra Kumar Sharma, lnspector/Executive), CISF Lady officer (Constable Suneet Kumar), local police lady officer (lady Constable Veerpal Kaur) and airlines staff.”
The FIR is based on the complaint given by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Inspector Surendra Kumar Sharma, who was escorting Kangana Ranaut.
“After completion of PESC (pre-embarkation security check), she was proceeding towards boarding gate at about 1528 hrs and in the meantime, CISF Lady Constable Kulwinder Kaur who was also deployed in the Domestic SHA (adjacent ladies frisking booth) came out from her frisking booth and slapped Miss Kangana Ranaut. Immediately, lady Constable Kulwinder Kaur was pushed by Lady Constable Veerpal Kaur towards the frisking booth. Later, Kangana Ranaut left PESC point and proceeded for her scheduled flight. In this regard, it is requested to lodge an FIR against CISF lady Constable/GO’ Kulwinder Kaur for her misbehaviour with Miss Kangana Ranaut,” Surendra Kumar Sharma said in his complaint, based on which the FIR has been filed.
According to News18, police reviewed CCTV footage of the incident and stated that Ranaut was stopped by Kaur, who slapped and misbehaved with her.
As a national safety, security, aviation and avionics analyst, I would hereafter analyse the adverse impact, which in all practicalities could be huge towards the internal security mechanism of our nation, especially when it comes to securing the irreplaceable lives of both the VVIPs and the commoners.
At the onset, it must be recalled that the CISF constable’s proactive confession of her grievance against Kangana Ranaut was caught on camera, as she made her point loud and clear in public, presumably immediately after committing the unlawful act. The physical assault on Ranaut needs and will obviously undergo a thorough investigation. However, if it turns out to be a planned attack on the part of the CISF staff, then I am afraid that its outcome will be way beyond than being just dangerous. This would pave the way for lone wolf attacks and will be indicative of Khalistani influence on our forces in Punjab and elsewhere too.
While the open confession of the CISF staff on duty clearly revalidates my analysis, the neutrality, depth and width of the investigation by all intelligence and law enforcement agencies is extremely vital and, in my opinion, a necessity. It is unacceptable for an on-duty officer, tasked with safeguarding citizens and the nation, to demean a public representative and potentially endanger a VVIP. Such behaviour is a breach of trust and also acts as a pathfinder for extremists, by demonstrating methods to bring VVIPs into harm’s way.
In this regard, we must recall the assassination attempt on Rajiv Gandhi at the Sri Lankan President’s house in Colombo on July 30, 1987, as well as the assassinations of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. We must also remember the incident on January 5, 2022, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cavalcade was halted on a flyover in Punjab due to a road blockade by protesting farmers, with the Special Protection Group having no option to rescue the PM to a safe shelter. We should also keep in mind the relentless and daring threats issued to the Republic of India and its prime minister by US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, sheltered and protected jointly by Canada and the US.
This incident is particularly concerning given its timing, just three days before the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match at New York’s Nassau County Stadium. The match itself is already considered a high-risk event, with ISIS-K (Islamic State – Khorasan Province) having issued threats against players and spectators. As per ABC7NY, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said he has been meeting with other agencies for nearly seven months. “The threats that we have received go back to April when it was a global and international-style threat from what’s called ISIS-K then it got more specific toward the actual game of India vs. Pakistan but did not name the place, then yesterday you all saw the video that went global, and they are calling for that lone wolf to act out,” Ryder said.
In its brazen dare, the threat message from the ISIS-K says: “You wait for the matches. And we wait for you.”
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, while ISIS-K has yet to conduct attacks against the US homeland, the group represents an enduring threat to U.S. and allied interests in South and Central Asia. This backgrounder provides an overview of IS-K’s history, leadership, and current strategic goals.
Formation and Relationship with ISIS Core
In 2014, Pakistani national Hafiz Saeed Khan was chosen to spearhead IS-K province as its first emir. Khan, a veteran Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, brought along other prominent TTP members—including the group’s spokesman Sheikh Maqbool and many district chiefs—when he initially pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2014. Many of these individuals were included in the first Khorasan Shura or leadership council.
IS-K’s early membership included a contingent of Pakistani militants who emerged in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province around 2010, just across the border from Pakistan’s former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). In such circumstances, the unprecedented breach of conduct by a CISF staff member would only encourage sinister minds to an unimaginable degree, enabling them to collaborate more closely than ever before in finalising their nefarious designs to fatally harm Indian public representatives at the helm and the Indian public in general. But that is not the end. In fact, the magnitude of danger is justifiably far greater, and we must now brace for it across the length and breadth of India.
This display of perceived personal vengeance by an on-duty security staff member would create an unavoidable sense of mistrust between the elite Special Protection Group, the last line of defence for VVIPs, and other security organisations responsible for their safety, even in supposedly secure places like airports. Thus, its adverse impact on the roads is well imaginable. This mistrust is destined to grow more complicated, especially with a terrorist having received thousands of votes in a brazen display of support for extremism in Punjab, irrespective of one’s denial or downplay. It is also primarily indicative of the fact that our eternal pride for the Sikh community is simultaneously being challenged and played with, by an unprecedented coalition of a few Western nations and Pakistan. The idea of Khalistan does not resonate with our patriotic Sikh brethren, and it is meaningless to the bravest and most honourable Sikhs who represent the overwhelming majority both in India and worldwide. Kulwinder Kaur chose to hurt the pride and principles of the Sikh majority.
In addition, it must be noted with extreme importance that CISF personnel carry highly sophisticated weapons, and such a perceived personal vengeance-loaded mindset could have been moments away from opening fatal fire on a citizen cum public representative.
It needs an investigation of a humongous scale to determine if the attack was pre-planned, especially taking into account that the attack was committed only after Kangana Ranaut became an elected MP – which itself carries a distinctly significant empowerment that she could utilise to the nation’s benefit in dissipating terrorism, if she gets an appropriate portfolio in the Central government. The shadows of a pre-planned conspiracy loom large justifiably, as under normal circumstances, the concerned CISF staff would have raised her personal grievance through the Indian jurisprudence, ideally long ago, considering the time of issuance of the statement by Ranaut related to the farmers’ protest.
A security staff member is obligated to protect even a criminal during judicial proceedings and while carrying out a legal sentence. This duty holds true even if the criminal is accused of harming the security staff’s own family members. It is intriguing that this unforgivable act of betrayal to the nation and the uniform has occurred at a time when Pakistan’s Army/ISI, our perpetual enemy on the Western front, is actively targeting Punjab’s youth with narcotics.
Kulwinder Kaur, a mother of two children, has not only voluntarily given birth to an indelible blot on one of the country’s most respected security organisations but also created an unmistakable amount of mistrust between the various security apparatuses. Make no mistake, her children will bear the unbearable load of her act of betrayal to the nation and her uniform. The Indian security apparatus must act in unison to address this situation and neutralise the mistrust effectively and immediately.
This attack is also aimed at creating a sense of mistrust in the army and other security forces when selecting Sikhs. Pakistan’s involvement is certain, as is China’s, as they fear Sikhs the most. Overall, it is a well-coordinated mission by India’s external and internal enemies. This includes the US and its lackey Canada, primarily as a reciprocal gesture to Pakistan, for being the courier of NATO arms and ammunition to Ukraine, and also to settle scores with an unfazed India on the Nijjar and Pannun issues. Pakistan’s silence in congratulating Narendra Modi for being at the helm for the third term is an unmistakable sign of fear towards losing PoK.
I would call upon the national security advisor, the three service chiefs and all external and internal intelligence agencies of our nation, besides all chiefs of the law enforcement agencies of India, to get into a huddle on war footing.
Arya Ghosh is a National Safety, Security, Aviation and Avionics Analyst. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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